Kastine Evans sparks Kentucky to another matchup with UConn

In a moment reminiscent of her time at Norwich Free Academy, where she led the Wildcats to two state championships and always had the ball in her hand at crunch time, Kastine Evans rose to the challenge.

The last gasp for Delaware on Saturday afternoon resulted in an eight-point run that pulled the Blue Hens within two points of Kentucky with 2 minutes, 47 seconds to play in their NCAA tournament Bridgeport Regional semifinal game at Webster Bank Arena.

The Wildcats had lived off A’dia Mathies’ and Jennifer O’Neill’s scoring for much of the game, and had held the lead throughout with one brief exception in the first half. But Delaware had done a much better job of getting out on the shooters in the second half, and Kentucky was reeling.

“Those two guards were exceptional — very, very good. Because we did a better job defending them, other people had to take shots,” Delaware coach Tina Martin said.

That was the cue for Kastine Evans.

In a moment reminiscent of her time at Norwich Free Academy, where she led the Wildcats to two state championships and always had the ball in her hand at crunch time, Evans rose to the challenge. She stepped behind the 3-point line with 2:21 left and calmly sank the shot that lifted Kentucky to a 69-62 win over No. 6 Delaware and a second straight Elite Eight berth.

“I thought Kastine hit the biggest shot of the game with that 3-pointer,” Martin said. “That broke our back in the sense of giving them enough cushion that they were able to sustain it and finish the game off.”

Second-seeded Kentucky now will meet top-seeded UConn for the regional championship at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

“How great is that? You couldn’t ask for a better scenario,” Kentucky coach Matt Mitchell said of Evans’ heroics. “I’m really, really happy for her and our team and I wasn’t surprised by it at all.”

Evans, though, had a slow start. She picked up the ball off the opening tip, drove to the hoop and missed the layup. She proceeded to miss her next four shots while rotating in and out of the lineup.

“She’s very mentally tough. That kid has a lot of character,” Mitchell said.

Evans just put those early misses aside and when the opportunity arose, within the offensive flow, she continued to look for her shot.

“You can’t really get down on yourself in a game like this,” Evans said. “You have to keep playing. If you don’t make shots, help others get the open shots.”

Evans finally broke through late in the first half when she sank a 3-pointer that helped Kentucky (30-5) go into the locker room with a solid 14-point lead, 41-27. That was despite a 17-point effort by the only true threat that Delaware had, Elena Delle Donne, who scored 33 points for a third straight NCAA tournament game.

Page 2 of 2 - But with Delaware (32-4) clamping down on O’Neill (19 points) and Mathies (16), the Wildcats had to look elsewhere, especially after the Blue Hens’ run made it anyone’s game after Delle Donne hit a jumper to make it 62-60, Kentucky.

After that make, the Wildcats weren’t looking to anyone in particular, just for the open shot. It was to no one’s surprise that Evans worked herself free.

“Kastine makes good plays. She hustles every second that she’s out on the court,” Mathies said.

Evans (eight points, two rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes) came out from behind a staggered screen. Her defender had elected to not stay with her, instead going down low to help, and that’s all the opening Evans needed.

“I just decided to catch and shoot, and I knocked down a shot we really needed,” Evans said.

O’Neill and Mathies finished the game off for the Wildcats with a pair of free throws each as Kentucky ended Delaware’s 27-game winning streak.